Policy
Can digital tools revive European democracy? Interview with Bjørn Bedsted
Online discussion platforms, digital deliberation tools, and - more recently – tools using artificial intelligence are increasingly being explored as ways to involve citizens more directly in policymaking processes. But can technology truly improve democratic participation? And what risks come with handing more of these processes over to algorithms and digital platforms? The European Parliament’s ...
Interview with Prof. Svend-Erik Skaaning on democracy and academic freedom
Political science professor Svend-Erik Skaaning (Aarhus University, Denmark) will be the academic keynote speaker at the high-level conference “Academic Freedom in Support of Democracy” organised by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) in the European House of History in Brussels on Wednesday 4 March 2026. What trends do you ...
Beyond technology: How social sciences and humanities drive human-centric innovation
As the European Union (EU) prepares the groundwork for the next Horizon Europe Framework Programme, many experts have been calling for the human and social dimension of progress to be better integrated into the EU’s research and innovation agenda. The STOA workshop ‘Humanities and social sciences at the heart of Europe’s future’, organised on 3 ...
Interview with Prof. David Rabban on the challenges for academic freedom in the United States
In the past year, tensions between the US administration and many of the major US universities have intensified, increasingly putting pressure on their academic freedom. Law professor David Rabban (University of Texas) thinks “it is important to push back against government intrusions into the intellectual life of universities. Some universities have resisted, sometimes bringing successful ...
Dr Vanessa Harris on planetary health research: exploring the links between the health of humans and the health of ecosystems
Dr Vanessa Harris is an infectious diseases physician and Assistant Professor at the Department of Global Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her research focuses on diarrheal diseases in children under the age of five, investigating environmental impacts on disease risk, prevention and vaccine performance in high-risk settings, and indirect effects of having diarrheal ...
Transparent and accessible global data critical for European researchers: Interview with Professor Thomas Hartung
The landscape of scientific research is shaped by global digital infrastructures, with critical databases in health, medicine, climate, and the social sciences. The dominance of foreign and commercial databases poses strategic vulnerabilities for academic freedom, innovation, and research continuity in Europe. What are the risks associated with this concentrated 'power' of some databases? And how ...
Keeping an eye out: interview with Dr Alice Fleerackers on ‘watchdog science journalism’
Science journalists can sometimes take on the role of watchdogs, exposing issues in and with science itself. To shed light on the importance of this and the challenges this type of journalism is facing, we spoke with Dr Alice Fleerackers. Dr Fleerackers is Assistant Professor of Journalism and Civic Engagement at the Department of Media ...
Research and Innovation Summit at European Parliament
On Wednesday 4 June from 18:30h until 20h CEST, the high-level STOA-G6 conference ‘Shaping Europe's Future: Research and innovation at the heart of European leadership’ took place in the European Parliament’s library room in Brussels. You can watch the recording online. The Summit, fully booked, brought together high-level representatives of the European Commission, the European ...